Thread by @deepa_driver

35 days since journalist Craig Murray @cmurrayjustice was locked up alone 22h/day in a prison for serious offenders !
877 days since Julian #Assange was jailed in Belmarsh, 3364 days since he was arbitrarily detained and deprived of freedom & natural sunlight
Some thoughts...
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https://twitter.com/DaveLlewelynBFI/status/1434028165010280450

Judicial torture & executions were routinely carried out at Saughton from 1386-1817. Saughton's barbaric history carries through neatly to the present day. Like other prisoners Murray is in his cell alone 22 hours/day. This is #torture & breaches rule 44 of the Mandela rules
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Leave alone, the wrongs of jailing a journalist for honest reporting, on the flimsy pretext of jigsaw id, Craig's case, reflects badly on the quality & independence of Scotland's judiciary, because Craig was denied the option to do community service #ScotlandJailsJournalists
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The grounds for denying the option of community service were that his health was too poor. What is remarkably two-faced is that he was then sentenced to 8 months in a high security jail, despite his poor health. #ScotlandJailsJournalists
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In Scotland, to help integration, prisoners can be released early on tag for home curfew. While the law is in place for all prisoners, in practice, the bizarre anomaly is civil (as opposed to criminal) prisoners cannot be released on home curfew
#ScotlandJailsJournalists
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Craig is a civil prisoner. So while hardened criminals will (rightly) be given the tools & access to reintegrate into society, Craig will not be allowed this right.
This breaches common sense as well as principles of natural justice
#ScotlandJailsJournalists
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Jailing Craig, a journalist, for the unproven crime of jigsaw id, makes this case stink of the political persecution we expect from nasty, authoritarian states.
That this is happening in Scotland,at the behest of the Crown, is unconscionable
#ScotlandJailsJournalists
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You will recall that Craig provided the most prolific & knowledgeable coverage of the barbaric #Assange case.
#JulianAssange's case is off-the-charts in terms of how multiple states have ganged up together like vicious bullies to vilify & torment a single journalist
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This thread about the #Assange case sets out some of the facts in what is hopefully a digestible way, given the complexity of the case

https://twitter.com/deepa_driver/status/1337490870518558721?s=20

What's also evil is the lack of due process & banal cruelty Julian has experienced while jailed at #Belmarsh

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#Assange was brutally dragged out of asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy (without due process) by hired goons aka London's Metropolitan police.
There is now clear proof that this was in exchange for billions (IMF loan) to 🇪🇨, brokered by then British minister Alan Duncan
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The European Arrest Warrant from Sweden was not issued using a proper judicial process. (The law has since been changed to prevent such arbitrary EAWs being applied).
#Assange's fears for his life when he sought asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy were justified
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The cases of Mohammed El Zari & Ahmed Agiza – two refugees in Sweden - who were forcibly returned from Sweden (🇸🇪collaborating with the US) without even being able to consult lawyers - & tortured are key to understanding #Assange's fears of onward rendition from Sweden.
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The cases of El Zari and Agiza demonstrate clearly how the US misuses its NATO allies to engage in illegal practices. If the US role in the horrific crimes against the two men isn't enough, here is more evidence of how the US manipulates its allies
france24.com/en/europe/2021…
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Yet British judges - who have a misconduct in public office complaint against them, as a result - ignored these very real risks to his life, branded #Assange a narcissist, & imprisoned him . They ignored UNWGAD's findings that he had been arbitrarily detained in the embassy
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At Belmarsh, a banal video emerged (recorded presumably by another prisoner or official) of Assange. Panicking at the negative publicity, #Assange was moved by prison authorities to the isolation of the healthcare wing on the pretext of mental health. This was a serious lie.
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Rule 46 of the Mandela rules clearly states that "Health-care personnel shall not have any role in the imposition of disciplinary sanctions or other restrictive measures."

Julian Assange was in effect in solitary confinement in healthcare
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Craig reports "3 psychiatrists & a physician with extensive experience of treating trauma have all testified in court that Assange’s mental and physical condition deteriorated while he was in 'healthcare' for several months.They ..said he improved after he left 'healthcare.'"
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To be very clear, the isolation for medical treatment was unjustified & actively harmed #Assange. Yet it continued for several months.
How did the medical personnel at Belmarsh - notably Dr Rachel Daly - honour their oath of doing no harm, leave alone observe Mandela rules
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Over the winter, when temperatures dipped below zero, #Assange was denied his warm clothes (that had been delivered to the prison by his family & that were in the prison storage). Again several months of this!
How is this treatment (of a journalist) ok under the #RuleofLaw?
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Remember, it had already taken months of public pressure not to mention lack of contact with his lawyers, when he was moved out of 'healthcare'

He was then given a laptop to prepare against the 100,000 pages provided by the prosecution.
But THE KEYS WERE GLUED DOWN

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Before court, he was"handcuffed 11 times;stripped naked twice & searched"
Belmarsh had "his case files confiscated after the first day of the hearing"
The court denied "his request to sit with his lawyers during the trial,rather than ina dock surrounded by bulletproof glass"
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This is all I can write in this thread today as I burn up inside at the brutality and injustice of what I've documented.
These cases though are not about Julian or Craig as individuals, barbaric though their treatment may be!
Really they are about justice, democracy & us
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